Boom! That was the sound of my stomach swelling to the size of Pluto, after eating all of three battered onion rings. I knew something was wrong. After years of dodgy insides and outrageous bloating, I was finally diagnosed with coeliac disease in 2012 and started my gluten-free blogger life from there.
“What’s coeliac disease?”, I hear you cry. Basically, a life-threatening autoimmune disorder that destroys your intestines, if left untreated. When gluten is present, coeliac immune systems cannot tell the difference between the protein and the cells of the small intestine – so it attacks them. Eventually, the cell wall is broken down until the surface area needed for absorbing nutrients has gone and the person becomes pretty ill. One in every 100 people in the UK have the condition.
I’ve become a bit of a boffin on all things surrounding the no-gluten diet and beyond – becoming a gluten-free blogger has helped that massively. I’ve had high times (like that time I discovered Nutella was gluten-free) and low times (like my struggles with orthorexia).
What I bring to the 100% gluten-free table is real life:
- amazing gluten-free recipes that you’ll never be able to tell are free of G
- gluten-free restaurants (in Leeds and beyond) that you’ll be safe to eat in
- stories of my travels (and more importantly, what I eat along the way)
- gluten-free UK deals and bargains
- exciting, new gluten-free finds (more and more are released every single day and it can only get better!)
- new things I’m learning about coeliac disease
- how to stay sane with food limitations – from my own experience of the eating disorder orthorexia
You can always find me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter – where I do most of my gluten-free blogger stuff before it hits the site.
Thanks for reading and stay in touch.
Nina x
Hi Glutenshe! I’m from the BBC Radio 4 consumer prog You and Yours, we really like your blog on this Tesco mainstream ad on Gluten free. Can we talk to you about it? email me a contact at kevin.core@bbc.co.uk thanks!
Really enjoying reading your posts! I was diagnosed in December & I’ve gone from ‘forgetting I’ve Coeliac’ & ordering banana bread at a cafe to not touching the gluten free food that my friends have made especially for me.
Bless you Fiona! To be honest I’m always a bit worried about eating GF food that other people have cooked just incase they haven’t 100% made sure baking utensils / pans/ trays etc are free from cross-contamination too :/
Hi Nina, ive just found your blog and realised you are a yorkshire girl too! My business partner Mina and I are coeliacs who run a 100% gluten free bakery in Leeds. Our facebook page wildcraft bakery has our latest stuff. It would be lovely to see you if you are in the area. We are quite new and word is just starting to get around about us. We always love to meet people who get why we are doing what we are doing! Best wishes Sam
So sorry I didn’t see this post before now Sam! Thanks for getting in touch! Yes I live in Horsforth 🙂 your bakery looks an absolute DREAM I would love to come and visit and do a blog post on it. I’ve been wanting to go to London to go to the 100% gluten free bakery there but now there’s one in Leeds this is a game-changer! More people in the area need to know about it!